Fire and ambulance crews in Iceland went on strike from 08.00 to 16.00 yesterday to protest at unresolved year-long pay negotiations. No major problems occurred. Read the full story

Only a fraction of Danish public sector workers are willing to openly criticise their employers due to fear of repercussions. Read the full story

At least nine out of every ten people to have lost their jobs in Iceland worked in the private sector. At the same time as the number of private sector jobs has decreased, the number of public sector jobs has actually gone up. Read the full story

The basic salary of a Reykjavik city councillor with the addition of various extras can be close to ISK 1 million a month (USD 8,020 at today’s rate but closer to 12,000 before the banking crisis) a month. In addition, the city pays each and every council member ISK 300,000 per year for phone bills. The mayor earns around ISK 1.1 million per month, including extras. Read the full story

The Senior Civil Servants Salary Board of Iceland (Kjararad) has rejected the government’s request for a reduction in the salaries of public officials in Iceland of 5-15 percent. The request was made due to the country’s economic crisis. Read the full story

More bad news came this week as crew members of the MS Vesteralen were informed that their ship would be removed from service when it returns to port in Bergen on 6 November. This is the latest vessel to be mothballed by Norway’s famous coastal shipping company Hurtigruten as it struggles to control spiralling financial problems.

Hurtigruten operates its ships along Read the full story

Although some state workers have accepted a wage agreement, workers at the township level are still dissatisfied and likely to go on strike. The strike, if it occurs will most likely affect the health and education sectors of several communities across Norway according to Aftenposten, and may start as soon as Monday.

Negotiations in Oslo over the weekend were successful in ending a 500 worker strike but further negotiations are still necessary.

Mediators are currently at work attempting to come to an agreement with public sector employees around Norway. In some cases they have succeeded, in other cases the negotiations continue. On Friday night, after negotiations went for a full 24 hours beyond the set time limit, state workers agreed to an increase in wages of 6.2 per cent.

The negotiations are occurring on three levels: country, state and township and involve four large labour organisations: Unio, LO, YS and Akademikerne.

Currently, 3,000 members of the Unio union have not accepted an offer which means that teachers, nurses, physiotherapists and administrative staff at the township level may not come to work on Monday.

According to leaders for Unio, the strike will spread quickly and is likely to affect Oslo, Bergen, Baerum, Tromso and Karmoy.